Too Short a Season (episode)
An elderly Admiral on a diplomatic mission takes a wonder drug to become a younger man. Summary The ''Enterprise'' has been sent to Persephone V to confer with Admiral Mark Jameson. Starfleet received a subspace transmission from Karnas, the governor of Mordan IV two days previously. In it, he says that terrorists have taken the Federation Ambassador Hawkins hostage. They want to talk to a Federation negotiator, and in his opinion there is only one man qualified – Admiral Jameson. Captain Picard talks with Jameson. Mordan is at peace after forty years of civil war and Picard wonders why Karnas would be unable to deal with this threat, having settled the civil war five years ago. Jameson was the man who negotiated the release of hostages from Mordan 45 years ago. Jameson beams aboard in a wheelchair with his wife, Anne. He warns Picard that Starfleet has designated him senior mission officer, and as such he will be in charge of the away team and the mission itself. Picard is slightly taken aback, but agrees to this. They go to the bridge, where Karnas contacts them again. He informs Jameson of the situation on Mordan, and says that the terrorists demand that the discussions are held on Mordan, and that they speak only with the Federation negotiator. Jameson accepts the conditions, and the transmission ends. Troi says that she senses that Karnas is being honest, but that he is holding something back. Jameson suggests that maybe he doesn't want to admit his failure to deal with the situation. Dr. Crusher contacts Picard and says she’s ready to perform the standard medical exam on Jameson, who looks nervous at this. They go first to the ready room, where Riker asks how Karnas knew Jameson was still alive. He says he briefed Hawkins before he took over his post on Mordan. Data wonders what the terrorists want, but no one is able to offer an answer. Later in Jameson's quarters, he gets out of his wheelchair and staggers to a chair. His wife says he seems better, but then he gets a pain in his chest. She wants to call sickbay but he won't let her. He says it's happened before, but it will go away. In the ready room, Dr. Crusher is talking to Picard. She says that the medical records Jameson gave her were two months old and not two days old as he claimed. She wonders why he lied. Picard says he's 85 years, but Crusher says he suffers from Iverson's Disease, which affects the body but not the mind. Picard says he wants her on the bridge for the duration of the mission. As the Enterprise approaches the Idini Star Cluster, Picard asks Jameson to take the conn. He amazes everyone by standing up and walking slowly to the conn. He says he has begun some new therapy that is working well for him. In the ready room, Crusher says there's no known cure for Iverson's and it has never been known to go into remission. Jameson has been confined to the wheelchair for the last four years. In his quarters, Jameson is watching the recording of Karnas' initial message again, when his wife comes in. He stands up and walks over to her. She's delighted at first but then gets suspicious. She brings him over to a mirror and sees he looks twenty years younger. Suddenly he gets the chest pain again and she calls Sickbay. After examining him, Crusher tells Picard that she has detected some unknown chemicals in his bloodstream, and that there is no trace of Iverson's Disease, but she doesn't know how. Picard goes to Jameson’s quarters, where he now looks about fifty. He demands answers, so Jameson tells him how he obtained a drug from Cerberus II that rejuvenates the body. He negotiated a treaty there and the inhabitants gave him the medicine. It is a combination of drugs to be administered over two years. He got enough for himself and his wife, but took both doses himself when this mission came up. Anne gets upset, saying he didn’t think of her and why did he not tell her what he was doing. Jameson goes to the observation lounge, sits with his face in shadow, and opens a communications frequency to Mordan. He talks to Karnas and asks him who's behind the kidnapping. He claims it's political opponents. He says that now that Jameson is returning, it's as if the last 45 years never happened. Jameson comments that Karnas never forgave him. Then he realises that Karnas has the hostages and there are no terrorists. Karnas says he's going to ask a very high price for their release. Jameson goes to the bridge and tells Picard to increase to warp 8 to put Karnas off balance. He tells Picard that Karnas has the hostages and that negotiations are no longer the answer. He intends to lead an away team on an armed rescue mission, using the maze of tunnels under the city. He reckons that Karnas is holding the hostages there, the same as he did 45 years ago. He claims again that an armed raid is the only option. Troi, Crusher and Anne are talking. Anne is distraught, asking why he did what he did. Then Crusher breaks the news that Jameson is not stabilising. Picard goes to the observation lounge, where Jameson looks to be in his thirties. He asks why the mission is so important to him and what he is hiding. Jameson tells how Karnas took the passengers of a starliner hostage 45 years ago and demanded weapons from Starfleet. After two other negotiators were killed Jameson went in and brought the hostages out safely, as the official version goes. What really happened was he gave Karnas the weapons he wanted, and then gave the exact same weapons to his rivals. This plunged Mordan into forty years of civil war. Now Jameson wants to vindicate himself, but Karnas wants revenge. Jameson beams down to Mordan along with Picard, Data, Worf, La Forge and Yar. They move through the tunnels under the city, but run into soldiers alerted by tripwires. A phaser fight starts, and as they take cover, Jameson gets a pain in his chest again, and they all beam back up to the Enterprise. Karnas hails them and asks for Jameson. Picard tells him he's critically ill, but Karnas doesn't care. He gives them ten minutes to beam Jameson down. Picard goes to sickbay, where Jameson is very sick. However, he still wants to beam down so he can save the hostages. Picard has no option, so he agrees to let him go down and decides to go with him. They beam down along with Dr. Crusher. Karnas doesn’t recognize Jameson, and demands that the real Jameson beam down. Jameson talks to him, and calls him by his old title to try to convince him. But Karnas still doesn't believe him, saying he's been coached. Jameson collapses, and Picard tells Karnas about the age reversing, but Karnas won't be moved. He blames Jameson for the war, death and destruction that have taken place on Mordan. Picard tells Anne Jameson to beam down, and shows Karnas pictures of Jameson's transformation in an effort to convince him. Picard tells Karnas that some of the blame lies on his head as well, and that Jameson wanted to atone for what he did. Jameson, although sick and sweating, manages to convince Karnas by showing him the scar of the blood cut they made to seal the bargain. Karnas takes a phaser and goes to shoot Jameson, but then he stops saying he would get better revenge in seeing him suffer. Anne talks to Jameson and says she'll always love him. Then Jameson dies, and Karnas says he'll release the hostages unharmed, satisfied that Jameson is dead. Jameson is buried on Mordan at the request of his widow and the consent of Karnas. Background Information * The title of this episode is very similar to that of a 1957 play for television written by Gene Roddenberry. "So Short A Season," starring Albert Salmi and Rip Torn, aired as a segment of NBC's "The Kaiser Aluminum Hour" on Tuesday February 12, 1957. *This episode marks the first appearance of a uniformed Starfleet admiral in The Next Generation, although Q wore a unique admiral's uniform in "Hide and Q". *Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher) does not appear in this episode. * As originally conceived, William Shatner was to appear in this episode as James T. Kirk. The planet in the episode would have been Neural, from TOS: "A Private Little War", with an aged Kirk returning to try to negotiate a peace on the planet. Shatner was either unwilling or unable to appear (probably unwilling, considering his disparaging remarks about TNG during its first year), so the venue and character were changed. * Karnas has a phaser from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, a phaser from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, a modified Klingon disruptor rifle and Portal 63's staff from TNG: "The Last Outpost" hanging on his wall behind his desk. Links and References Guest Stars *Clayton Rohner as Admiral Mark Jameson *Marsha Hunt as Anne Jameson *Michael Pataki as Karnas Co-Starring *Guy Vardaman as Darien Wallace (uncredited) References Cerberus II; Cerberus system; Cerebusian rejuvenator; Idini Star Cluster; Iverson's Disease; Mordan IV; Peretor; Persephone V; steelplast; USS Gettysburg; stellar cluster; Hawkins (Ambassador); Rear admiral; Governor; DNA; Sain; Isis III Category:TNG episodes de:Die Entscheidung des Admirals es:Too Short a Season fr:Too Short a Season nl:Too Short A Season